Undertale Au
by Abbra063
Summary: A classic Undertale AU where all the roles have been scrambled. But with no set pattern in place, things may get complicated.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale or any of its characters**

 **Author's Note: This is another one of those au's where the characters roles are completely switched around. Except I think mine is more random, also the characters keep their original personalities and relationships. Sans is still Papyrus' brother, Toriel is still Asriel's mother, etc. And if it turns out to be exactly the same as another au, it's purely coincidence. I'll list all the switches below… skip it if you wish to be surprised.**

 **Sans takes on Flowey's role**

 **Papyrus takes on Toriel's role**

 **Toriel takes on San's role**

 **Asgore takes on Gaster's role**

 **Undyne takes on Asgore's role**

 **Alphys takes on Muffet's role**

 **Mettaton takes on Undyne's role**

 **Flowey takes on Mettaton's role**

 **Muffet takes on Papyrus' role**

 **Gaster takes on Alphys' role**

 **Napstablook and Mad Dummy switch roles**

 **Temmies and Froggits switch roles**

 **And no more swapping or my mind would explode from all the information.**

Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS. One day, war broke out between the two races. After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell.

Many years later…

Legends say that those who climb the mountain never return.

A young human child garbed in a blue shirt with bright purple stripes lay in a bed of golden flowers. They blinked and guarded their eyes from the faint sunlight that shone through a small hole high above. They groaned from the pain attacking their body, as they stood. The flowers had broken their fall, but not enough.

Their name was Frisk.

Frisk walked through a tall elegant doorway that seemed to be the only way out. The next room was pitch black, but Frisk remained brave and walked into the inky coffin. They stumbled forward, slowly regretting their decision.

There was no exit in sight. They were completely lost. "Hey kid, look this way."

Frisk whipped around to face the source of the voice, and what they saw nearly caused their SOUL to leap out of their body.

A short figure stood in a small circle of what was the only light in the room. They wore a hoodie that might have been blue at some point. It was so dusty and torn and stained that it was hard to tell. But, it wasn't the horrid clothes that scared Frisk… it was what was under the hood.

It was a skeleton, grinning at them with no emotion. Its teeth were yellowed and it was missing several of them. The rest of its face looked like it was in the same state of disrepair, but that wasn't the most unsettling part. It stared at Frisk, with life in its eyes.

"You must be new to the UNDERGROUND . You're probably so confused," It said, its voice confirming it to be male. He started rocking back and forth on his bare feet, which were missing several toes, while introducing himself as SANS the SKELETON.

He stopped rocking and instead held his hand out and started to coax something from the shadows. "I guess it's up to me to teach you," he said with his voice gaining a dark edge.

"You should know, in the UNDERGROUND, LOVE is shared by these… friendship rays," he said. His eye socket filled with very faint blue light, and the head of a skeletal creature appeared from the darkness. Its mouth opened…


	2. Chapter 2

Soon blinding light was all that Frisk could see, and agonizing pain was all they could feel. They collapsed to their knees, vomiting with tears streaming down their eyes.

"Heh, heh," Sans chuckled humorlessly, his eye sockets as pitch black as the room. "Idiot, in this world… there's no point. Just kill or be killed," he said coldly, somehow managing to grin even wider than before. The head was charging up another attack… this time Frisk wouldn't survive.

Sans was about to finish it, he Raised his hand to- "Hello! Are there any humans down here?" a new voice called into the darkness. It apparently chilled Sans down to the marrow, and he disappeared into the darkness along with the means of Frisk's demise.

Frisk looked up and sighed in relief at Sans' absence.

That relief was drained immediately when a new figure entered their blurry vision. They were taller than Sans had been, and they wore a white robe that was much nicer than his hoodie.

"Oh! A human!" they cried, before gasping in shock at the human's state. They ran over and knelt by Frisk's side. "Let me heal you," they said gently, though they seemed to have one noise level… LOUD.

Frisk's vision cleared and the pain lessened greatly. They turned to see another skeleton grinning at them. They scrambled away as fast as their tiny legs and arms allowed.

This skeleton looked much more welcoming in comparison to... that _other_ one. He (Frisk had decided it was a he) had pure white bones and all his teeth. He wore a white robe with an orange hood pulled over his skull. The robe had a black symbol on it that consisted of three triangles, a circle, and a pair of wings. But…the main difference was that his eye sockets held something that the _other_ one hadn't, life and emotion.

"Huh? Human, are you alright?" he asked in the same gentle and kind tone he had used before.

Frisk said that they were fine, becoming less tense after deciding that the skeleton wasn't a threat.

"Oh, that's good," he said in a sigh of relief. He then cleared his throat and stood straighter as he declared, "You must be wondering who I am of course. I am the Great Ki- I mean, the Great Papyrus, Caretaker of the Ruins."

That cleared all of Frisk's doubt, this guy wasn't evil. They greeted Papyrus and asked where they were, realizing that he may be the best (or friendliest) source of information.

"You are in the Underground, in the Ruins to be more accurate. I come here everyday to see if any humans have fallen down," he said. "And now I have found you! Let me guide you through the catacombs!"

He held out his bony hand to Frisk, who reluctantly took it. It was quite unsettling to hold a skeleton's hand, but Papyrus kept looking at them with kind and loving eyes. He led Frisk into a large room with a circle of red leaves as the doormat to the entryway to the ruins.

The shadow of the ruins loomed above and filled Frisk with determination.

Papyrus quickly brought them into the ruins where a series of buttons littered the floor.

"Nyeh heh heh…" Papyrus chuckled proudly to himself. "Welcome to your new home. As you can see, I have filled the Ruins with puzzles to stump unwanted visitors."

It was slightly off-putting for Frisk when Papyrus called it their new home. Before they could question him, he started jumping on to several of the buttons littered across the floor. He jumped on the final button and looked at the closed door across the rooms expectantly… nothing happened.

"Well… I may have forgotten how to get in," he said apologetically, scratching his head.

It took roughly an hour before Papyrus finally got it right and the door opened. The next room had multiple puzzles of similar fashions. Some were solved easily, and others were not.

By the time they got to the next room a couple of hours later, Papyrus is about to pass out from all the mental energy used.

Luckily the next room is empty except for a lonely looking training dummy. Frisk asked an exhausted Papyrus what was for. All he could say was to strike up a conversation.

They walked over to the dummy and started to talk to the dummy…it wasn't much for conversation. Papyrus seemed happy though.

"Very good, you did terrific," he praised while sitting against them wall, his head resting against his chest.

"hOI!"

It echoed through the silent room and caused Papyrus' head to shoot up. He looked around wildly with fear in his eyes.

"Human, we need to leave immediately," is all he said before grabbing Frisk's hand and running out of the room.

Frisk asked why they were running, but got no answer.

"hOI! i'm…"

It was louder than before. They halted in front of a field of spikes that stretched out over a deep pool of water.

"I don't have time to remember the path!" he shouted and stomped angrily.

He picked up Frisk and placed them on his shoulders. He walked forward and the spikes disappeared under his feet, until they didn't. He just kept walking anyway, it was one of the perks of being a skeleton.

They reached the other side and Papyrus gave a sigh of relief. Frisk hopped of his shoulders and asked what in the world had just happened.

"I am sorry about losing my temper," he apologized, looking more tired now that the adrenaline rush was wearing off. "There are certain monsters in the Ruins that are...less than preferable to encounter," he muttered.

This ominous comment made Frisk stick a little closer to their bony guardian. Papyrus took their hand and walked forward slightly before stopping and smacking himself in the face.

"Darn it! I forgot to get groceries!" He yelled before he turned to Frisk with an apologetic expression. "Human, I need to attend to some business and I must leave alone for some time. Please stay in this room for that time."

Frisk didn't like the idea of being left alone with less than preferable company around. They held on to his robe with one hand.

Papyrus frowned and thought for a moment.

"Ah! I have gotten a brilliant idea!" he yelled triumphantly. He reached into one of his sleeves and pulled out an old fashion cell phone.

"Take this, human. This way you will be able to call me if there is any trouble," he said be for bestowing them with it. He turned around and walked away, looking back and yelling, "Don't get into any trouble!"

Frisk was left all alone.

* * *

 **Author's Note: I'm sorry that the first chapter was so rushed, I was being rushed at the time. Also, I was considering having Papyrus speak in all caps, but I thought it would be distracting and annoying. Finally, I need ideas for puns for when Snowdin comes in, because I kind of suck at those.**


	3. Chapter 3

Frisk stood there for a while and contemplated whether or not they should stay in the room as Papyrus had said. They were considering how good the skeleton's judgment was.

"hOI!" echoed through the empty room. The less the preferable to meet monsters, were closer than before. Frisk nervously looked around and slowly walked into the next room. They jumped at the sound of their new phone ringing. They hesitantly brought it their ear.

"Hello? Human, are you there? This is Papyrus! I wanted to remind you that it is very important that you do not leave that room. The puzzles ahead are so hard that even I have trouble solving them! So just stay where you are until I come and get you. Be good!"

*Click…

Frisk hadn't paid any attention what Papyrus said, as they had noticed that a dog-like creature was also standing in the room. It had cat ears and wore a blue shirt. They cautiously walked over and greeted it awkwardly.

"Hi. I'm Bob," he said in a calm tone that was quite the opposite of Papyrus'. "I wish to bestow you with important knowledge that shall aid you in fighting monsters. If you FIGHT till they are almost defeated, or ACT in a particular way, they may no longer wish to fight you. When a monster does not want to fight you, please use some MERCY. That is all."

Frisk thanked him for his advice and sneezed, earning themselves a "gesundheit" from Bob.

The air around them started vibrating. They turned slightly to the left to see another monster that resembled Bob standing in to their left. "hOI! i'm TEMMIE!" she yelled, looking like she was having fifty seizures at once.

* * *

*Temmie- Rated Tem outta Tem

*Loves to pet cute humans.

*But you're allergic!

* * *

Frisk backed away quickly from the strange creature. It was the monster that Papyrus had warned them about. She kept vibrating, getting closer and closer to them. They could see Bob nodding at them, telling them to do what he had said.

They said hi to Temmie, who vibrated even more intensely, and passed out. Frisk looked at Bob, who was mouthing the words "Mercy" at them. They walked over to the Temmie and patted them on the head, and watched as she vibrated away. Frisk picked up the gold that she left behind. Bob looked happy with them.

The room was also with red leaves that came from an unseen tree.

Playfully crinkling through them filled Frisk with determination.

They looked in the room above. It was empty except for a bowl full of meatballs, with a sign that said "Take one". They grabbed three and stuffed them in their pockets, and the bowl tipped over and spilled meatballs everywhere.

They walked out of the room and tried to look casual. Just on the way to the next room they encountered several more temmies, and a sobbing whimsun. The next room was a hallway, with the floor looking suspiciously cracked. The cracked floor also had holes in it, as if a certain skeleton had fallen through.

They tentatively stepped on one of the remaining scraps of floor, which crumbled immediately. They fell down, and face planted on a bed of red leaves. They groaned and stood up, while rubbing their sore nose.

Frisk walked through the eastern door of the room. They found themselves on the other side of the hole they had fallen down, and they walked into the next room. Their phone started ringing again, it was Papyrus.

"Hello, human! Not that it's important or anything, but which do you prefer, hot spaghetti, or cold spaghetti?" he asked. Frisk said that they preferred hot spaghetti. "Okay, thank you!"

*Click…

Frisk walked forward, the room had-

"Hello! It's Papyrus again! I know your preference, but would you refuse to eat if something else turned up on your plate? Huh? Did you just call me… dad? I didn't know you felt that way! I guess you can call me PAPAyrus! Nyeh heh heh… I hate myself. But I understand what you mean. Bye!"

*Click…

Frisk face palmed at their mistake when answering Papyrus, but he was probably the only person they had ever met that would deserve the title.

Before they could ponder why he asked such a thing, they saw what lay in front of them. The puzzles that Papyrus had warned them about, were right ahead.

From what Frisk had seen of the skeleton's puzzle solving skills, they had reasoned that there was no need to worry. They were dead wrong, because the puzzles might leave them dead.

There were spikes _everywhere,_ even on the walls and ceiling. Some had white and orange cloth stuck on their sharp tips. The only spots that were free from the spikes were occupied by several rocks.

Frisk saw no other way, and started jumping on them, from one to the other. Until one of them cried out in pain, and Frisk lost their balance.

* * *

After several more of Papyrus' "puzzles", Frisk was practically crawling into the next room. They sighed in relief at seeing that there was nothing in the room except for another training dummy. They weakly stood up, and walked right by it. As they passed they smiled at it, and said, "Hi!" It was what Papyrus would have wanted.

They were bracing themselves for what might be in the next room, when they heard something.

"HEY!"

They slowly turned around, _very_ afraid of what they might find. The training dummy was floating towards them, and it had very angry eyes.

"Hahaha…You thought you could scare me away too, huh? I am a ghost that lives inside a dummy," the mad dummy declared. "My cousin used to live inside a dummy, too. Until…YOU CAME ALONG! They thought they were going to get a nice chat when you started talking to them. But some of things you said…! Horrible. Shocking! UNBELIEVABLE! It spooked them out of their dummy. HUMAN! I'll scare your SOUL out of your body!"

* * *

*Mad Dummy- Because they're a ghost, physical attacks will fail

*Doesn't seem too happy with you

* * *

"Futile. Futile! FUTILE!" Mad Dummy yelled. Frisk looked over to the exit, wondering how hard it would be to just run out of the room. But, before they could do anything, several miniature dummies appeared in front them. They started sending balls of magic towards Frisk at a rapid speed, but they were all dodged. A few ended up hitting Mad Dummy in the face.

Frisk quickly plugged their ears, but they were unable to avoid the piercing shriek that escaped from Mad Dummy.

"You idiots!" they screamed loudly. Now that Mad Dummy was focusing his anger on the terrified miniature dummies, Frisk decided it was a good time to dash out of the room.

They could hear Mad Dummy yelling at their poor minions even more, until they noticed Frisk's absence.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE!"

Frisk looked back for a split second, and Mad Dummy was zooming after them with a murderous expression that shouldn't have been possible for a somewhat inanimate object. They soon found that, when running at high speed, it is often a good idea to your eyes on where you are going.

They turned their head, just in time to see a sign reading, "TEM SHOP!" ram into their head.

"Ha ha! You can't run from me! It is… FUTILE!" Mad Dummy cried loudly. Once Frisk's vision returned, they could see the furious dummy floating over them. They thought of several ways to get out of the situation they were currently in, but what happened next threw all of those ideas into the garbage.

"hOI! i'm TEMMIE!"

"hOI! i'm TEMMIE!"

"hOI! i'm TEMMIE!"

 _"hOI! i'm TEMMIE!"_

Frisk looked to the side, and their eyes widened at the sight of three temmies standing in the room… and they wondered where the fourth voice had come from. They looked back at Mad Dummy, who was staring at the temmies with an almost disgusted expression. The miniature dummies were nervously peeking out of the doorway that Frisk had run out of.

"UGH! Don't distract me while I'm trying to end someone's life!" Mad Dummy yelled, before shouting to his minions, "YOU IDIOTS! Don't just stand there, kill them!"

The mini dummies, of whom Frisk was starting to feel sympathetic for, rushed into the room.

As Mad Dummy was yelling the command, there was a sound resembling air leaking out of a balloon. Frisk once again took the risk of looking away from the furious dummy, and looked at the source of the sound.

Temmie, Temmie, and Temmie were all recoiled, with their fur starting to stick up. "Anger… is… NOT CUTE!" they yelled in unison, and Frisk could hear a faint voice squeaking, " _NOT CUTE! NOT CUTE!"_

All three of them suddenly tackled Mad Dummy midair, and it seemed as if something invisible was picking off the miniature dummies. Frisk unsteadily stood up, but was knocked down again by the wave of temmies that poured into the room. It was as if the words, "Not cute" had summoned every temmie in the Ruins.

Frisk managed to crawl away from the pile of temmies that was slowly engulfing Mad Dummy. They sighed in relief, until the phone Papyrus had given them started ringing. They scrambled to answer the phone, but luckily it was too loud already for the temmies to hear, not that they would have cared.

"Hello? Human, are you there? What's that noise?" Papyrus called over the phone. Frisk stood up and walked into the next room, while assuring Papyrus that it was nothing. "Good! Well I just wanted to tell you something. It's been a while since I've cleaned up, about sixteen hours! You might find some stuff scattered around. Feel free to pick it up! And throw it away or recycle it. Fear not human, none of it is mine. Someone's been leaving dirty socks all over the Ruins lately… it kind of reminds of… Sorry! I got distracted for a second. That's all! Remember to brush you te- Oh! What an adorable little dog you are! I shall raise you and call you Papyrus Jr." Papryus seemed to be talking to someone other than Frisk. "Aren't you a little cu- HEY! GIVE THAT BACK! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ORDER YOU TO HALT…"

Frisk could hear Papyrus' voice fade away. They stood perfectly still for a couple of seconds while trying to figure out what to do, they decided it would be best to hang up. They started reading the stone sign by the doorway, while trying to block out Mad Dummy's shrieks and the sound of temmies chanting, "Not cute"

 **There is only one switch**

Frisk let their eyes ping pong in between the sign and the rest of the room, while wondering if Papyrus had made a typo.

The room's floor was covered in switches. Upon further examination, they appeared to be made entirely of paper mache, and painted to look like levers. Frisk walked around, kicking all the levers around to make sure that they were fakes.

That was when they fell down the first hole. They probably should have seen it, considering that Papyrus had already cleared the way.

They, once again, found themselves landing face first into a shallow pile of leaves. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Frisk trudged into the next room, with a scowl representing their emotions perfectly. Their second encounter with Mad Dummy hadn't gone as well as the first time, and the third time was worse than the first two times combined.

Their eyes were barely open… at least in comparison to how they usually were. They didn't even notice the carpet of red leaves to their left, and just kept walking forward. It was the wall that finally broke them out of the daze.

"hOI! i'm TEMMIE!" rang in their ears. The words were starting to become an annoyance, especially after hearing it a billion times, and Frisk was starting to understand where Papyrus was coming from.

But, despite their annoyance and exhaustion, Frisk raised themself to be polite in every situation. They said hi to Temmie, while standing up from their place on the floor.

"Dis is a SECRET! temmie saw da PAPYrus walking through here… with GROCERIES!" Temmie said, while having the standard spastic seizure. "temmie was too shy to talk ta him. temmie is ashamed… da PAPYrus is muscular, and muscles r… NOT-" Frisk quickly covered her mouth before she could utter the magical words. They were, at the same time, wondering how a skeleton could be muscular, and how a dyslexic cat creature could have a crush on one.

Once Temmie was calmed down, Frisk checked the room Papyrus had come from. It wasn't really a room though, as it had a view to a large, dark castle. Frisk wondered how the skeleton had gotten to the stone platform they stood on now.

There was a dirty sock there, and they wondered how Papyrus had passed it without picking it up. Maybe someone had left it there after Papyrus went though. That though was… eerie…

Inside of the sock was an old bone, sharpened to have a deadly point. Frisk threw it down to the ground once they saw what it was. And, out of the corner of their eye… they could see something. An empty, pale face, grinning at them… one eye glowing bright blue.

Gasping, Frisk quickly turned in the direction of the unsettling chesire grin. Alas, it was nothing but their imagination.

A chill started to lap up and down their spine. It was time to get out of there.

They speed-walked pass the lovestruck Temmie, and into the room they had come from. That was when they noticed the leaves, and the wide doorway they led to.

They walked through it, and gaped at the sight they saw. A majestic tree stood tall in a sea of red leaves that was clustered around it. Its branches twisted in every direction, some reaching up to scrape the ceiling.

"Ah! Human!"

The sound of the cheerful skeleton became much more interesting than the old tree.

Frisk launched themself at Papyrus the instant he came into view. They were overjoyed to see the friendly skeleton after all they had been through. That was replaced by the urge to punch him in the face for filling the Ruins with such things. Though, he did instruct them to stay in the one room…

The skeleton froze up for second, before gently pushing away the human child that was hugging his waist.

"Human, what are you doing here? I specifically instructed you to stay put. Hmm…maybe I didn't say it loud enough…" the skeleton muttered to himself, before an expression of pure awe seemed to smack on to his face. "HUMAN!" he shouted, "Does this mean you solved all of my puzzles?"

Frisk nodded weakly, and didn't get a second to think before Papyrus picked them up and spun them around.

"OH! I'm so proud! You must be some sort of genius for solving my mind boggling puzzles!" Papyrus cried cheerfully.

It was a weird feeling, being praised and spun around like that. Frisk wondered if that was what fathers would do for their children.

Papyrus put them down, while wiping away tears. "Well," he said in between sniffles, "I should probably show you the surprise."

He walked past the old tree, a Frisk staggered behind him. He stopped in front of a small house that looked far too cozy to be part of the Ruins. He walked up to the door, and turned around. He spread his arms out wide, almost as wide as his grin, and shouted, "WELCOME TO YOUR NEW HOME!"

* * *

 **Author's Note: It is finished…**

 **Not the story, this chapter just took way to much time to write.**


	4. Chapter 4

Frisk lay on their new bed, in their new bedroom, in their new house. Papyrus had been so eager to show them every inch of the house, with the exception of the strange staircase that he had ignored with all his might. Now they were sitting on a large orange bed that was apparently theirs.

Everything happened so fast, and they didn't have the time to process everything that was happening. Now, with the usually loud skeleton hushed inside of the quiet house, they were left alone with their thoughts. It was becoming too much to handle at once.

Next to the bed, on the floor, was a plate with some frozen solid spaghetti on it. Papyrus had called it his, "famous ice-cold spaghetti, which only a few SOULs have had the honor of tasting."

Frisk rolled off of the bed, and decided that looking at the bookcase would be a good distraction. They had always been fond of reading.

There were many books, ranging from _Peek-A-Boo with Fluffy Bunny_ to _Advanced Puzzle Construction for Critical Minds_. None of them seemed particularly intriguing. Frisk was about to look at something else, when they noticed something behind the bookcase.

They slowly eased it out from behind the bookcase and looked at it. It was another book, caked in so much dust that the title couldn't be read. They took one finger and tentatively wiped away the dust. It was titled, _The History of Monsterkind_.

Frisk never would have thought monsters to have history books. Though, they never would have thought that monsters existed.

They opened up to the middle, and dust puffed up into the air. The page was almost entirely covered in small text that was almost unreadable, just like every other history book Frisk had seen in their life.

After several minutes of squinting more than they usually do, Frisk was able to read the first paragraph.

* * *

 _Settling into our new home, Home, we were met with many complications. The Underground was cold and lifeless, and it was clear that no one before us had been foolish enough to choose it as a home. We had to make it habitable using what little we had. Even with magic, it would be an extremely difficult task. The human's merciless onslaught that pushed us past the barrier left us with very little to use as a starting point for this task._

 _As we debated and lost sleep over what to do, and seemed like our situation was hopeless, a light seemed to shine even as deep down as we were. Our king, Asgore…_

* * *

Frisk's eyes were beginning to hurt, and they reached up to rub them. The book slid off their lap, and landed with all the pages crushed against the ground. Frisk coughed and waved away the dust it had set up. They thought about how if the librarian was there, she would have smacked them upside the head for letting that happen.

They picked up the book and sighed, there was no way they were finding that page again. They placed it back down on the ground, but much more neatly than it had landed. They propped up their head in their hands, thinking about what the next sentence would have said.

It left them with gnawing curiosity. They hadn't thought much about their newfound knowledge of the existence of monsters, for they felt it would be too much for their still young mind to process. Another thing they hadn't thought about was how the monsters had gotten under Mount Ebott.

They looked down at the dusty book still on the floor.

Frisk slowly reached over to it.

They opened it to the very first page, that first page that may answer all of their questions.

The book was apparently much more fragile than originally estimated, and Frisk accidently tore the cover off.

They stared at the cover, then at the book. Then they heard footsteps in the hallway. Acting with reflexes that probably should have stopped them from falling into the Underground in the first place, they hid the book and cover behind the bookcase. They had raised themself to be polite and honest, but instinct seemed to have taken over.

Papyrus, not being one for knocking, barged in.

"Human," he said, "While I am sure you are thoroughly enjoying your new room, furnished by the Great Papyrus himself, it is time for you to go to bed."

Frisk simply blinked in confusion. Thankfully Papyrus elaborated. "I, Papyrus, have decided to care for you. I am very knowledgeable on the needs of humans, and I know growing human children need to go to sleep at decent hours to remain healthy."

That lead Frisk to wonder how Papyrus would know anything about human children. They hadn't seen or heard anything about any other humans.

The skeleton took advantage of them being distracted to pick them up and place them on the bed. He then walked over to the bookcase, causing Frisk a few seconds of panic. He pulled out a small square-shaped book with an illustration of a rabbit on it. He walked back over to the bed and sat down on the foot of it.

"How about I read you one of my favorite books, _Peek-a-Boo With Fluffy Bunny,"_ he said, a bit too eagerly Frisk noticed. Papyrus opened the book to the first page and started to read, "Fluffy Bunny and his friends Hoppy Frog and Grubby Gopher were having a delightful picnic…"

* * *

 _Frisk sat on the rug in the living room, a very interesting book about the history of monsters was on their lap. They had finally found the right page, they were sure of it. They quickly directed their eyes to the second paragraph. The text was small, so they squinted. The text was still too small, so they leaned closer. They were just lines, nothing more than lines scribbled on to the page._

 _"Then Grubby Gopher popped out of his hiding place, giving Fluffy Bunny an awful fright."_

 _Frisk jolted, then turned around. Papyrus was standing behind them, holding Peek-a-Boo With Fluffy Bunny in his skeletal hand. For some reason he was reading it while also holding a plate of frozen spaghetti._

 _Behind him there was no wall, just a sea of blackness. Frisk didn't think much of it, until something emerged from the darkness._

 _Sans the skeleton walked forward, with the same emotionless grin and glowing blue eye._

 _Frisk tried to scream, but no noise came out. Sans raised his hand, and the same skeletal head from before emerged beside him. It opened its mouth with blue light forming in it. Frisk yelled at Papyrus to run or duck or something, but like before, no sound came out._

 _A ray of blue light ripped through the friendly skeleton, who was still enjoying his book. Nothing was left._

 _Frisk tried to get up and run, but they couldn't get the book off their lap. Sans shuffled towards them. "In this world… there's no point. It's just kill or be killed," he said._

 _The book was becoming extremely heavy, pinning them down. Sans was getting even closer, though he probably could have still killed them from the distance he was at._

 _With a sudden burst of strength, Frisk pushed the book off their lap. They desperately tried to get up and run away as fast as they could, but their movement was sluggish. They still managed to get away from him by running into the darkness._

 _On the other side of the inky black curtain was the library… the library on the Surface. They looked around, everything was it should be. Elderly women were reading their romance novels in the corner. Children even smaller than Frisk were staring in awe at the mural of a forest on the far wall._

 _Then there was the librarian. She was sitting at her desk, with her hair pulled into a tight bun. Her lips were pressed tightly together and her gaze was coldly staring down. Anyone else might have thought she was upset, but Frisk knew it meant that she was completely engrossed by her newest novel. She also had a temmie on her lap, but that probably wasn't important._

 _Frisk wanted to run over and give her and her familiar face a hug, but she would most likely scold them for running._

 _They decided to just say hi instead, but before the word could leave their mouth, they were shoved down. They tried to get up, but like before, their movement was slow._

 _Frisk looked at who shoved them, it was one of their fellow orphans. He managed to look even more intimidating than the librarian, with his cold gaze directed at them. Someone else started yanking on their hair. They cried out in pain and reached back to try and stop whoever it was, but they couldn't pry their fingers off._

 _"Hey freak, where do you think you're going?" he said._

 _"Are you running to your mommy? It's a good thing at least one person accepts a freak like you," the person pulling their hair said._

 _Some else kicked them in the side, and said, "She must think you're such a perfect little angel, if you're so perfect then why has no one adopted you?"_

 _"Why don't you just climb Mount Ebott and end your miserable life already?"_

* * *

Frisk opened their eyes and sat up in their bed. They sighed and put one hand on their face. They were relieved it was just a dream, but where they were now was more like a dream than anything else. The room was dark.

They swung their feet over the side of the bed, and when they touched the cold wood floor was when they realized they didn't have their shoes. They looked around until they noticed a box in the corner of the room. It was full to the brim with shoes, and their own pair sat primly on top.

They walked over and picked up the plain, brown shoes. They looked in the box. All the shoes appeared to belong to children. Frisk wondered why Papyrus would have such a thing. They put on their shoes and shoved the plate of now-lukewarm spaghetti into their pocket. They exited the room. They could hear the sound of pages being turned coming from the living room. They started walking over when the thought finally hit them that with Papyrus on the other side of the house, it was the perfect time to search his room. Needless to say, curiosity took over.

There were three doors in the hallway. The one behind them was the one leading to Frisk's new room. The door one the far end of the hall had a sign on it. There was something written on it in big, messy handwriting that clearly belonged to the resident skeleton.

 **ROOM UNDER RENOVATIONS BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS**

When they had first seen the sign, they wondered why Papyrus needed to renovate a room.

The closer room also had a sign on its door, with the same handwriting declaring it as the room of The Great Papyrus. They walked over to the door as quietly as they could, and put their hand on the door handle. For a second they hesitated, but once again it seemed like instinct was overtaking any common sense they had.

They slowly turned the door handle, and winced when it made a squeaking sound. The rest of the time spent opening it was painful.

Finally they were inside.

The walls in Papyrus' room were a ghastly shade of orange, as was the large rug almost covering the entirety of the wood floor. Other than that, it was much more normal than what was expected from the eccentric skeleton. His bed was almost exactly the same as Frisk's, except he appeared to be using a pirate flag as a blanket. On his bedside table there was an ominous box full of bones, but considering he was a skeleton it wasn't as spine-chilling as it should have been.

Next to his bed was a desk with a journal on it, wide open. Frisk walked over and peeked at the small part circled in red.

* * *

 _I've gotten a_ _ **ton**_ _of work done today…_

 _A skele-_ _ **ton**_

* * *

Frisk allowed for a shrill laugh to escape their mouth, before they quickly clapped a hand over it. They listened for a second for any movement from Papyrus, but it was still as quiet as ever. They felt it was in their best interest to leave anyway.

The door once again squeaked on their way out. Papyrus either had terrible hearing, understandable considering he had no ears, or he just didn't care.

In the living room, Papyrus was sitting on a big, cushion-y chair with _Advanced Puzzle Construction for Critical Minds_ in his bony hands _._ A warm fire crackled in the fireplace next to him.

They smiled when they saw large, circular glasses on Papyrus' face. How they stayed on his face when he had no nose was beyond Frisk.

The skeleton looked up from his book and said, "Ah, human, you're awake! Did you sleep well?"

Frisk said that they did, and left out the part about their abrupt awakening. Instead they warmed their hands by the fire. The setting made them think about their dream.

It seemed a very long time ago that those were said to them, but truthfully it was only a few days. The bruise on their side had faded from Papyrus' healing, but if they touched where it had been, it still hurt. They could still hear the cackling, and their fists instinctively clenched. But they loosened when Frisk remembered going to the librarian to get their wounds healed.

They told her about everything the other kids had said, and she said not to listen. She said that they were a good kid, and good children have no reason to listen to the taunts of others. Frisk listened to her for the time being, but they couldn't get one sentence out of their mind.

"Why don't you just climb Mount Ebott and end your miserable life already?"

Growing up, Frisk had obviously heard the myth about Mount Ebott. Supposedly anyone who climbed it would never return, and while everyone seemed to play it off as a joke, no one dared to get anywhere the mountain.

After hearing the words on loop in their head for hours, Frisk started to genuinely consider what they said. They were going to climb Mount Ebott. Not to end their own life, but to do the exact opposite. They were going to climb the treacherous peak, and be the first one to survive.

The night they got the idea was the night they started packing. They didn't eat their dinner, and instead packed it. They also stole some extra snacks from the kitchen. A camera was essential for proof, so they packed that. Extra clothes were also needed. They packed every striped shirt they owned, until they realized that it was the one they would have to be wearing.

Frisk, the quiet, polite child who spent their evenings at the library, was going to conquer Mount Ebott. They weren't going to tell their mockers that their life was worthy of being lived, they were going to show it.

Just thinking about it was causing energy to start flowing throughout Frisk's body. They had gotten so hyped up to do it, that even when walking towards the ghastly mountain, they weren't afraid.

If they had known where it would quite literally land them, they would have been much more wary of their plan.

The heat was starting to become unbearable, so they walked away. The energy was still flowing through them. They started thinking again.

Why did their plan have to stop just because of where they were? They were still alive, weren't they? They could still make it out and prove their worth to everyone. In fact, they could inform everyone about the existence of monsters. They would think Frisk was delirious at first, but they'd be convinced eventually. There had to be a way out of the Underground, they could feel it in their gut. But first, they had to get out of the Ruins.

They whipped around and loudly asked Papyrus if there was a way out of the Ruins. He jumped, dropping his book. "W-Why would you ask that human?" he asked while he picked up the book. Frisk simply asked again, albeit quieter this time. "Um," he said, nervously looking side to side, "There is something I have to do, stay here."

He got up and briskly walked away. Frisk thought they had upset him and regretted their bluntness. They thought he was going to his room to mope, but then he turned to the left, towards the stairs.

Frisk slowly walked towards they doorway leading to the main room, and peeked through it just in time to see Papyrus descending down the stairs. They slowly followed after. They went down the stairs, each hand brushing against the walls on either side. They were getting the feeling that they were doing something they weren't supposed to…

At the bottom of the stairs, there was a dull white hall stretching for what seemed to be endlessly. Papyrus in his white robe should have been invisible, but his orange hood made him stick out like a sore thumb. He was quickly walking away from them.

They started walking after him. They cringed at how much their footsteps echoed. Papyrus stopped, and so did they. He didn't turn around however.

"Please… Go back upstairs, human…" he said. He was so… quiet.

Then, he continued on his way. Frisk considered listening to him, but they slowly found that they were getting more rebellious by the minute, and followed after.

Once again, he stopped.

"Every human who falls down here has the same fate," he said, his voice was now cracking. "They come with me, they leave me. They-they… **Undyne** … She will…"

He kept walking, faster this time, and once again, Frisk followed.

He made a turn to the left, and he halted again.

"Please… Human… This is your last warning…"

It wasn't too long after that he stopped for the final time. The narrow hall opened out into a wide room. There was a large door that loomed even above the tall skeleton. His faced it, absolutely still.

Frisk gulped, he was starting to scare them.

"You'll end up just like the others," he said, voice devoid of all emotion."If you insist on leaving, there's only one thing to be done. Prove to me. Prove that you're strong enough to survive."

He turned around. His face was expressionless, but tears were streaming down his face.

* * *

*Papyrus-Probably knows what's best for you

*Smells like spaghetti

* * *

Bright blue bones stabbed through Frisk's body. They froze. Nothing happened. They should have known that Papyrus didn't have it in him to hurt them.

They moved.

Agony tore through their entire body.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Sorry! I procrastinated on this for way too long. I've noticed that it's so long in between every update that my writing style seems to change every time. Anyway, thanks for all the feedback! It's always appreciated, and don't be afraid to leave some more. Like I brought up before, I need some pun suggestions for Snowdin. I am terrible at coming up with those on my own.**


	5. Merry Undertale

Snow covered the ground, icicles hung off trees and roofs.

Inside a large, wooden house, there was a young, pig-tailed girl.

She was weaving something. She eerily hummed a cheerful tune as she wove.

Her five eyes blinked separately.

Only four of her hands worked on shaping the delicate, white string into a design. The other two poured a cup of tea.

An alarm went off in the house's small kitchen.

A warm voice called, "Muffet! The pie's done!"

"Coming, Tori," Muffet said in a sing-song voice.

She started singing quietly as she put the final touches on her masterpiece.

"We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year…"

She set down her work, and walked away.

What it said?

You should have guessed it already.

 _Merry Christmas._

* * *

 **Happy holidays.**


	6. Chapter 5

Frisk gasped loudly. The pain was like a thousand daggers were being driven through their body at once. They froze up again, and the pain lessened slightly. They breathed slightly, but only in shallow breaths. They didn't dare move any more than that

Papyrus wiped his tears away, and his expression remained unsettlingly blank.

Finally the bones disappeared back into the earth. Frisk sighed in relief. Then they took a sharp intake of air when they were suddenly surrounded by a wall of bones.

The bones started closing in on them, slowly getting closer and closer. Frisk spun around, looking for any way out. They noticed that one of the bones was a bright blue color. They already had a theory developed about that, and now it was time to test it.

They ran in front of the blue bone, closed their eyes, and stood perfectly still. Their ears started ringing for a second, but other than that nothing happened. Frisk opened their eyes to find that the bone had passed through them without any problem. Their theory was right.

They spun around to face Papyrus, right as a bone smacked them in the face. They stumbled back, holding their face. Tears started to cloud their vision. Today was not a good day.

"Human! Are you-" Papyrus said, before cutting himself off. Once Frisk's vision cleared, the skeleton's expression had returned to emotionless.

They reached into their pockets, desperately feeling for anything that might help them. At the same time they were also desperately racking their mind for any conversation topics. They couldn't think of anything to say.

They grabbed one of the meatballs that were still in their pockets. It wouldn't hurt to eat something, so they popped it in their mouth. Surprisingly, their body seemed to ache less afterwards.

There was no time to ponder on the healing properties of meatballs when Papyrus started throwing bones at them again.

Frisk went with their first instinct, and dropped to the ground. They started crawling towards the skeleton while his attacks sailed over their head. Right as they started getting close, more bones started protruding from the ground.

Frisk yelled in frustration when they were once again trapped by a wall of bones. They then yelled that they didn't want to fight. There was no response.

The bones started closing in again like before, except this time Papyrus learned from his mistakes. There were no blue bones for them to escape through, only pure white ones.

Frisk wondered if they could jump over them, but that was most definitely bordering on impossible. It seemed like this time they were completely trapped.

The bones were almost touching their shoulders before they noticed one of the bones had a small spaced underneath it. They rushed to try and squeeze under it. While they fortunately made it through, they unfortunately didn't do the best job, and the bone scraped against their back.

Once they were able to stand up again, a circle of bones immediately trapped them again. This time they screamed that they didn't want to fight. There was still no response.

Now there were two bones that were a bright blue, so it seemed like it would be easy. That's what Frisk thought, until the bones started spinning around them. While spinning, it started closing in again.

Frisk started breathing heavily, but hyperventilating wouldn't make the situation any better.

They desperately tried to track where the blue bones were. It was easy at first, but then they started spinning faster and faster until everything was just a white and blue blur. It kept getting closer, and Frisk kept getting dizzier.

They did the only thing they could think of doing.

They begged for Papyrus to stop it all. They begged him to stop fighting them. They begged him to just let them go.

They closed their eyes tightly, and when they opened them, they weren't trapped any more.

They turned to face Papyrus, whose façade had completely broken. His expression was desperate. "Human, please," he said, "Can you start fighting back?"

He half-heartedly threw some more bones at them. Frisk easily sidestepped them, and said again that they didn't want to fight.

Three waves of bones came at Frisk all at once. The first one was low to the ground, and they were easily able to jump over it. They slipped as they landed, and fell to the ground as the second wave came.

The second wave was several blue bones squished together so it looked like an actual wave. Frisk was still on the ground when they were blinded by the neon blue color as the second wave passed through them.

The third wave consisted of bones coming from both the ceiling and the floor. There was a small gap in between them, one that Frisk only noticed when they stood up.

They groaned loudly, before running and diving through the small gap. They hit the ground rolling ungracefully. By the time they stooped rolling they were sure they had lost most of the skin on their cheeks.

"See, human? That's how you fight," Papyrus said.

Frisk stood up slowly, their legs were trembling. They kept one hand on the wall to keep balance, and they slowly started walking towards the skeleton.

"In a fight, you're supposed to fight back, you know that, right?" Papyrus said.

Frisk only kept walking closer.

"Human, you have to fight me."

Frisk got closer.

"Human…please fight me."

Frisk hugged the skeleton.

"Do you really not want to fight me?" Papyrus said. Frisk hugged him tighter. "But it's…"

He sighed.

"I understand. I understand what it's like to want something, to have a goal to strive towards. A dream, a dream that you want to make true, no matter what ," he said, "So you know what?"

He pushed Frisk away and knelt in front of them. He held their shoulders and looked them directly in the eyes. "Human," he said, "Leave these Ruins and follow your dreams. Don't let me keep you here. And I know I'm irresistible, but when you leave, please don't come back. Don't give up, and stay safe, for my sake."

He hugged them, gently stroking their hair with skeletal hands. Despite being a skeleton, Papyrus always seemed to emit some sort of warmth. When he pulled away, Frisk wanted to cling to him, but they restrained themself.

He started walking back down the hallway. Frisk watched him, knowing it would most likely be the last time they ever-

"GOOD LUCK HUMAN! FROM THE GREAT KI-er- PAPYRUS!"

Frisk smiled as they pushed the door open, and walked out of the Ruins.

The first thing they did was scream.

The next room was completely black, except for a small patch of light in the middle of it. In the middle of that light stood Sans the skeleton.

His face was expressionless, like it had been before.

"Great job, buddy," he said, "You spared one person, you must feel like you can do anything. Even break the very rules of this world. You haven't killed anyone yet, and I'm betting you don't plan on it either. But, let's say in a hypothetical situation, you meet a relentless killer? You'd die and you'd die and you'd die, until you get sick of it. What happens then? Do you kill

out of frustration? Or do you continue your own endless cycle of pain and agony? Sounds like a fun choice, huh? Or maybe you could just hand the reins over to me and give me control over this world."

Frisk wanted to back away from him, but his gaze seemed to keep them frozen there.

"I'm this world's future. Don't worry, you'll probably survive it. I've got something **very** interesting planned."

In a flash, he was gone again.

Frisk felt a shudder run up their spine. They wondered what that slowly crumbling skeleton wanted with them.

But, they couldn't wonder too much about it. All they could do was walk forward, and that they did.

They reached another door. When Frisk felt it, they noted how cold it felt. It reminded them of how all the doors in the orphanage felt during winter.

They pushed the door open and the cold was like a punch to the face. The regularly chilly Ruins suddenly seemed like saunas. When they stepped outside, snow crunched under their feet. The door closed with a thud behind them.

In front of them there was a snow-covered path lined with tall trees. Looking up they could see the rock ceiling of the Underground, far, far above. To their right, there was a large bush covered in snow. It looked really fluffy. That's when they noticed how tired they were.

Frisk supposed a nap couldn't hurt, even if it was out in the open in freezing temperature. They leaned against the door and slid to the ground.

They closed their eyes.

* * *

Frisk blinked their eyes open. For some reason, they were really warm. There was something draped over their shoulders.

They looked down and saw that they were wearing a coat five sizes too big. They reached over to one of the sleeves, and picked off a single, white hair.

* * *

 **Author's Note: This is probably the most I've revised something. I basically spent my entire day writing this. I really wanted to get the fight scene right, so please tell me what you thought. I also put up a poll on my profile relating to this, so please check that out. Review, have a nice day, and an even better 2017!**

 **(I actually spent 1000 gold to send a temmie to college… I don't know how I feel about that)**


	7. Chapter 6

Frisk reached up to rub their red nose. They wrapped the strange coat even tighter around themself. Wherever they were, it was cold.

The only sound was the snow crunching under their feet and wind whistling through the trees. There was a bad feeling settling at the bottom of their stomach. They tried humming to fill the silence, but it didn't help. The towering black trees seemed to glare down at them.

Up ahead there was a large branch laying on the path. It looked out of place on the nearly empty path, but Frisk didn't think too much of it.

They stepped over it and continued on their way. It was still quiet...

A loud crack echoed throughout the forest.

Frisk lost their footing and face-planted into the snow. They groaned and tried to stand with shaky legs. They turned around. On the ground behind them, the branch was broken in half.

Frisk gulped and slowly turned back around. Their knees knocked together as they tried to calmly walk away. As they slowly took one step after, they thought they heard a second pair of footsteps.

They stopped and turned around. Their heart stopped when they saw a shadowy figure disappear behind one of the trees. Frisk stared at the tree for a solid minute, but nothing changed. They passed it off as their own imagination, but they started walking slightly faster than they had before.

The forest seemed to be finally clearing up. Frisk could see the end in sight, where the trees opened up into a white clearing. They continued to pick up their pace until they were running as fast as they could.

Frisk was almost to safety. Unfortunately for them, it wasn't until they were stuck in it that they noticed the spider web blocking their way.

The sticky substance refused to let go of their face, and their arms, and every part of their body that was stuck.

This web was stickier than any of the ones Frisk had dealt with in their lifetime. No matter how much they struggled, it didn't seem to make a difference. They didn't want to know what kind of spider could make a web that adhesive, or one that could survive in that weather.

They sighed. It seemed they would be spending the rest of their lives stuck there until something came along to eat them.

Then they heard the footsteps. Slowly. Approaching.

Frisk tensed up. The footsteps got louder and louder, until they stopped. Frisk scrunched their eyes shut, waiting for sharp pain and then death. Instead, they heard a woman's voice.

"Oh no, it looks like you got stuck. Let me help you."

Frisk flinched as two large hands grabbed their sides, and started to peel them off of the web. It felt like tearing off a very sticky , and very large bandaid. They could imagine the painful red marks that were zig zagging across their face

Once their feet were planted firmly on the ground, Frisk spun around to look at the owner of the voice. A woman with the face of a goat smiled down at them.

Honestly, they shouldn't have been surprised anymore.

"Are you alright, my child?" she said, "You ran very fast into that web."

Frisk nodded absentmindedly, trying to take in the scene in front of them.

She had soft-looking fur the color of snow covering her body. Two horns protruded from the top of her head. Her eyes were large and dark red, and they could see two fangs poking from her mouth.

She wore dark purple pants and a tank top with a lighter shade. She had no weapons, and the most intimidating part of her attire was her black snow boots. Or at least that's what Frisk though until they saw the snail stickers covering them.

"That's good," she said, "I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Toriel, the sentry of Snowdin Forest. I'm supposed to be keeping an eye out for humans, though I have been a bit lazy lately. Muffet on the other hand..." She drifted into thought momentarily, before waving her hand and saying, "Well she's never been one to do something half-heartedly."

Frisk opened their mouth to ask who Muffet was, but figured they'd rather not know. It was quite comfortable in their ignorant bliss, albeit a bit chilly. They reached over their shoulder to pull the jacket closer, but their hand closed around air.

Toriel tilted her head, and reading their actions said, "You dropped it when you started wildly sprinting away from me. It's a shame too, I quite liked that coat." She narrowed her eyes. "Perhaps I should just hand you over to Muffet, she could make me a nice replacement out of you."

Frisk squeaked. This was just enforcing their belief that anyone, no matter how cuddly looking, could be a murderer. They started nervously stuttering about how they would most definitely get her a replacement, and that flaying did not need to be part of the plan.

Right as they were getting to the pros and the many, many cons of killing them, they heard a snort. They looked up to see Toriel restraining a smile, until she finally broke into shrieking laughter.

Frisk wasn't sure if they should find it as a good sign, or if they should start running while they had the chance.

As her laughter died down, she wiped away tears and said, "I'm sorry my child, but I've never gotten a reaction that good since I told Grillby it was raining outside. Ah... but I can just pick it up later, for now we should focus on getting past this web. Muffet needs to be more careful about not trapping others when she puts these up."

Frisk slowly turned their head to stare at Toriel. Did that mean Muffet was a-

A flame appeared in Toriel's hand.

To say that Frisk screamed would be a minor exaggeration; it was more of a squawk.

"Stand back, my child," she said. She had made her voice deep and gruff, and a serious expression crossed her face. She looked like a war veteran about to sacrifice herself.

As soon as they stepped back, an inferno appeared in front of them. Once it died down all that was left was the smell of smoke and a puddle of water around their feet. Needless to say, they weren't chilly anymore.

Toriel blew on her hand. "Alright, follow me," she said. Her voice was back to its gentle quality, as if the last few seconds hadn't happened.

They followed her across a small bridge that spanned a bizarrely placed pit, and they quickly reached a clearing.

It was surrounded by snow covered pine trees that were far shorter than the black ones. The path Frisk and Toriel were walking one continued ahead into the shorter trees. In the clearing itself was a wooden structure with empty snail shells scattered on top of it. Next to it stood a disfigured cardboard cut-out that looked strangely familiar.

In the center of the clearing was a tiny black spot in the snow. Frisk brushed it off as a stone at first...until it crawled away.

"Yeesh," Toriel said, "Muffet must be close. You should go hide behind that conveniently-shaped cut-out."

Once they had hidden themselves behind the bizarrely cut cardboard, they heard the sound of snow crunching. And it wasn't long before they heard Toriel say:

"What's up, Muffet?"

"You should know better than I do, my dear Tori. There's the smell of smoke in the air."

Frisk felt a shudder run up their spine. Her voice was like that of a child, high-pitched and sweet. It made them recall a few of the girls at the orphanage, but none of their voices gave the same effect of nails scraping across a chalkboard.

"I just felt like some s'mores, and perhaps you should be more careful of who you trap when putting up webs."

"Tsk. Toriel, one doesn't have time for such trivial things when they are headed for the top. Ahuhuhu~ If I want to be the first to capture a human, then I can't waste precious time."

Frisk felt a single sweat drop trickle down the side of their face.

"Alright, don't push yourself too hard, and don't get make this a daily thing. It's not fun burning webs, I'd rather be here, staring at this carboard cut-out."

"When I'm finally famous enough to open up my bakery in Hotland, I don't think I'll let you in on the profit. No one wants a lazy business partner."

"I'm just kidding with you Muffet... _arachidding_."

Frisk would have laughed, but they were far to focused on the massive itch developing on their arm.

"Puns don't make a profit, Tori."

"Aw, but you're laughing anyway."

"Maybe. I'm going to go set up some more traps, and no more _kid_ ding around when I'm gone. Ahuhuhuhuhuhu~"

They let out a sigh of relief as they heard Muffet's footsteps fade away.

"Huh, I didn't think of that one. Oh yeah, you can come out now."

They stepped out from behind the cardboard, vigorously scratching their arm. Toriel was standing there with her hands resting in the pockets of a purple jacket. Frisk frowned and looked down the path heading to the Ruins, wondering when she had the time to go and pick it up.

The snow now had small footprints leading down the path and into the pine trees. They didn't like the idea of following Muffet's footsteps, but it was the only way out.

They took a deep breath, tried to think happy thoughts, and started walking down the path. Of course they didn't get very far.

"Hey, can you hold on for a second," Toriel said, "There's a favor I must ask of you."

Frisk didn't want to know what kind of favors goat people would need, but they stopped and turned around anyway.

Toriel scratched the top of her head and said, "I know she may not seem like it, but Muffet's been acting down lately. She's been so busy focusing on working and money lately that she hasn't been able to truly enjoy herself. You'll be the first human she's ever seen, and it might just make her day. Don't worry, she's not as dangerous as she thinks."

Frisk looked at the ground, thinking for a few seconds. When they looked up, Toriel was staring at them with puppy dog eyes.

Who knew? Maybe Muffet was truly just a lost soul who was caught up in the busyness of the underground society.

They plastered a smile on their face and nodded, hoping that their assumptions weren't too far off.

"Thank you so much, my child," Toriel said, "I'll be up ahead, so go on when you're ready." She started walking towards the Ruins, but stopped and said, "One more thing, you aren't afraid of spiders, are you?"

* * *

 **Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, I've been busy... procrastinating. Thank you for your support and patience, please review, and remember to check the poll on my profile relating to this story. And on a final note, I'd like to suggest an official name for this AU, Switch-Swap-Alter-Outer-Fell-What's-Good-For-The-Goose-Is-Good-For-The-Gander-Tale! It rolls right off the tongue, don't you think?**

 **Have a lovely day!**

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